xl 



tlie sole expense of the adventurers in that celebrated mine, on 

 the recommendation of its ever hospitable committee. The reduc- 

 tion thus effected in the cost of the Excursion, rendered it profit- 

 able to the Societies concerned in its promotion. 



Turning from this pleasant topic to the future prospects of 

 your Institution, we have to refer to a change in its circumstances, 

 consequent primarily on an event which will form an era in the 

 history of Truro — the completion of new Public Rooms by a 

 Company which aims at providing accommodation for many of the 

 local societies, and for the holding of public meetings. Thus it 

 has happened that the Cornwall Library, which has hitherto 

 rented two rooms from your Institution, has given notice to quit 

 them at Christmas, having preferred to remove to the Public 

 Buildings. In consequence of this you will lose the rent, £20 a 

 year, which the Library pays you ; whilst you will be under the 

 necessity of increasing the salary of your Curator, Avho will lose 

 the payment he has received from the Library, without getting, 

 within these doors, any income towards supplying that loss. 



Of course it is open to you to seek another tenant for the two 

 rooms that will be vacated at Christmas ; but your Council, after 

 maturely considering the state of your finances and your probable 

 income, think you had better try to carry on your work without 

 having recourse to that expedient. You have always been much 

 inconvenienced by your having no suitable room for your annual 

 and other meetings ; and it has long been desired by the friends 

 of the Institution that these two rooms could be turned to 

 account for its own purposes. Thrown into one, as they may 

 easily be by removing the partition between them and supporting 

 the ceiling by an iron girder, you would have a room of ample 

 convenience for the purposes mentioned. The light may be in- 

 creased by cutting down the windows ; and it may, at no large 

 expense, be made a comfortable scientific reading-room, as well as 

 a convenient hall for receiving our visitors on our own premises. 

 Besides, you have long been cramped for space to exhibit many 

 of the presents in mineralogy, natural history, and antiquities, 

 which are now within these walls ; whilst your friends are contin- 

 ually adding to your stores, and no doubt would even do so more 

 freely still if they were to find that their gifts were well disjDlayed. 

 Towards the fund which, it is clear, must be required for carrying 

 out this design, we have already a nucleus of about £10 in the 

 surplus receipts of this year's excursion ; and you could hardly 

 appeal in vain to your friends to subscribe siDecially in augmenta- 

 tion of it, recognizing, as they immediately Avill, the great desira- 

 bility of enabling you to accomplish this end. 



This once done, we are of opinion that you will be in a posi- 



